


Quiet Classrooms

by jojo_siwa_car



Category: Lord of the Flies - William Golding
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - High School, Epilepsy, Fainting, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Seizures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:49:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24921841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jojo_siwa_car/pseuds/jojo_siwa_car
Summary: Ralph and Piggy are alone the first time they help Simon through a seizure
Relationships: Piggy & Ralph (Lord of the Flies), Piggy & Simon (Lord of the Flies), Ralph & Simon (Lord of the Flies)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 18





	Quiet Classrooms

Ralph breathed a sigh of relief as he glanced out at the still, empty hallways through the classroom door. 

He turned to his side, high-fiving his friends Simon and Piggy triumphantly, the trio having successfully escaped another of Jack Merridew’s attempts at tracking them down and chasing them through the halls of the high school. 

What they had done to piss him off this week was hard to remember, but Ralph had the slightest suspicion that it had to do with Sam and Eric’s brilliant idea to fill Jack’s locker with ping-pong balls. 

Speaking of, Ralph noted the absence of the twins; a vague memory of them diverging from their group into the library arising foggily in his memory. He shrugged, figuring they’d reunite with them next period. 

Piggy had already opened his lunchbox, tossing an apple to Simon and a bag of pretzels to Ralph, unwrapping a sandwich for himself. 

“Who’s room are we in anyways?” Asked Piggy, gesturing to the general vacancy of the room save for several uniform tables and desks. The lack of posters about grammar rules or anatomical models that would signify what classroom they ended up in was becoming apparent. 

“Not sure,” admitted Ralph. “See anything over there?” 

The area in question was a door propped open with a thick book, leading to what was, as far as they could see, a dusty supply closet. Ralph and Piggy made their way to the closet, edging the worn wooden door open and making their way through the darkness. Ralph brushed his hand against the wall, locating the switch and flipping it on, the lone lightbulb buzzing to life as it bathed the small closet in a dim yellow light. Piggy reached down, picking up a _Fundamentals of Physics Vol. 2_ textbook, the puzzle pieces clicking together in his head. 

A soft thud sounded against the linoleum floor, reverberating through the room. Ralph and Piggy’s heads snapped up, and the pair exchanged looks of unease. 

“...Simon?” Piggy called, concerned laced into each syllable as he noticed the boy’s absence in the supply closet. He was met with no reply. 

“Simon?” Piggy called the quiet boy’s name once more to no avail. 

Ralph flung open the closet door, him and Piggy moving swiftly, urgency flooding through their veins. Piggy gasped and Ralph scrambled to Simon’s side, dropping to his knees next to their friend. 

Simon had collapsed and fallen to the ground, his face pale and practically drained of color, evidently as a result of another one of his fainting spells.

“Oh, Simon…” Piggy sighed as he joined Ralph on the cold tile, positioning himself to lay Simon’s head in his lap, gently brushing his dark bangs out of his closed eyes as he looked up at Ralph. Ralph met his stare with a similar worried frown. 

“What do we do?” Piggy asked. Ralph shrugged, taking Simon’s hand in his own. 

They were well aware of Simon’s epilepsy - almost everyone was. Despite this, they knew nothing about what to do when he experienced a seizure or a faint, more often than not leaving that for the teachers to take care of. 

As if reading his mind, Piggy said “Should one of us go get a teacher?” Though he sounded hesitant as he spoke. 

Ralph shared the same hesitance in his reply. “I’m not quite sure,” he said. “I don’t want to leave Simon here while we fetch one.” Piggy nodded understandingly. 

They settled for gently tending to their friend as best they could, even as tremors and spasmodic muscle movements overtook the boy’s frame. Ralph gently rubbed his thumb over the palm of Simon’s hand as Piggy took to alternating between softly shushing Simon’s quiet whimpers and cooing soft reassurances to the unconscious boy. 

The pair made sure to move the furniture out of the way so that Simon didn’t hit anything as he convulsed. Piggy even removed his jacket, though he wasn’t sure how much of a barrier it offered between Simon and the hard tile floor. He was certain that in an environment like this, as opposed to the carpeted floors of their bedrooms, the poor boy was sure to walk away a bit sore. 

Ralph wasn’t sure how much time had elapsed, for the seconds felt stretched out, moving as if they were molasses. Eventually, Simon’s body stilled and his eyelashes fluttered. Ralph gave his hand a squeeze and he feebly returned the pressure. 

His eyes opened, though his face retained a dazed, exhausted confusion. His eyes darted around the room, meeting Piggy and Ralph’s, though he only stared at them uncomprehendingly. His breathing sped up, heart rate noticeable accelerating as he spoke, though it seemed to take much effort to do so. 

“Where… what?” he asked, his voice hoarse. 

“You’re alright Simon,” Piggy spoke quietly, with a gentleness he reserved for littluns' and cats. He stroked Simon’s cheek. “We’re here, it’s okay.” 

Ralph gave his hand another gentle squeeze, hoping to slowly bring him back to his surroundings. Simon propped up his elbows beneath him, moving to sit up, but the action was interrupted as he groaned, bringing his hand up to shield his eyes from the harsh fluorescent lights and sinking back down to Piggy’s lap. He curled his body into a ball on his side, the room spinning around him as his head pulsated violently, an intense headache coming on in the aftermath of his seizure. 

Ralph shrugged off his flannel, covering Simon with it as the boy let out a pitiful whimper. Piggy shushed him gently, rubbing Simon’s arms in an attempt to comfort him. 

After so long in this position, Simon’s breathing eventually evened out, soft snores coming from their exhausted friend. The trio lapsed into a comfortable silence, not even minding that they rested atop a cold tile floor. 

Ralph gave a glance at the old analog clock that hung on the wall next to the loudspeaker, determining that they had time before the classroom was once more filled with noisy students, though who knows if the little black hands were accurate. It didn’t matter. 

They were safe. 

Together.

**Author's Note:**

> Not the best thing I've ever written, but the idea's been in my head for a little while now. I don't have epilepsy, but I do get migraines and have fainted before, so my experiences influenced the way I wrote some of this story. Hope you enjoyed!


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